Department for Transport

Parking Offences

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers are available to local authorities and what enforcement action can local authorities take to prevent cars parking at public bus stops.

Andrew Jones: English local authorities have a wide range of powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to prohibit or restrict parking throughout the day or at specific times and by specific types of vehicles on any length of the highway, including bus stops. These powers enable local authorities to create bus stop clearways prohibiting all vehicles, other than buses, from stopping at bus stops. Over 90% of English local authorities have the power under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 to enforce bus stop prohibitions/restrictions.

Members: Correspondence

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 8 August 2016 on homes and the adoption of private roads.

Andrew Jones: I sent a response to the hon. Member for Walsall North on this issue on 13th September 2016.

London Airports: Investment

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much private funding (a) Heathrow Airport and (b) Gatwick Airport declared to the Government would be invested as part of its expansion plans.

Mr John Hayes: The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Airports Commission considered that all three of the shortlisted schemes were commercially viable and privately financeable. The Government is carefully considering all the evidence set out, including that on costs and financing, before making a decision on additional runway capacity.

Driverless Vehicles: Taxis

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the development of fully autonomous taxis.

Mr John Hayes: Automated vehicles offer many potential benefits including improved safety, network efficiency, and mobility. There is also a significant industrial prize that the UK is well positioned to take advantage of. There are many potential routes for these technologies to come to market. Fully automated taxis are one such application of the technology. At this stage there are no plans to specify the route to market.

Driving: Licensing

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time is for claims for the return of driving licences withdrawn on medical grounds; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) deals with more than 600,000 medical driver licensing applications annually. The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals. Between April 2016 and the end of August 2016, the average time taken for a licensing decision to be made was 38 working days. The average time for the period April 2015 to March 2016 was 53 working days.

Roads: Noise

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 12 of Highways England's annual report, published in August 2016, whether Highways England is on track to meet its target of mitigating at least 1,150 noise important areas by 2020.

Mr John Hayes: Highways England is on track to meet its target of mitigating at least 1,150 Noise Important Areas (NIA) by the end of this first Road Period as stated in Highways England’s annual report, published August 2016. It is currently planned that the majority of NIA’s will be mitigated in the latter part of Roads Period 1.

Railways: Fares

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has made to rail franchises on above inflation rail increases.

Paul Maynard: The Government regulates the existence and price of certain rail fares. We protect passengers by setting the maximum amount regulated fares can increase year-on-year. In general the fares that are regulated include commuter fares (in major cities), some weekly, monthly or annual season tickets, day singles and returns (Oyster Pay As You Go in London) as well as some protected fares like long-distance off-peak return fares (formerly Saver Returns). We have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) for four years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. This means those fares we regulate will rise by no more than 1.9% in 2017. Other fares are unregulated, and train operators are permitted to set these on a commercial basis, taking account of competition from other transport modes and the need to attract business in order to grow their revenue. Unregulated fares include the lower cost Advance purchase fares which have been introduced by a number of operators. This has helped to make some leisure travel services significantly cheaper for passengers who are able to book ahead and commit themselves to travelling on a specific departure, and has also helped to fill emptier trains. While there is a wide range of fares available advance fares are a key rail success of recent years where we have seen huge growth. Unregulated advance tickets have increased from 8% of revenue in 2007/08 to 14% of revenue in 2015/16. The fares that passengers pay are supporting the biggest modernisation programme on Britain’s railways for over a century. In the five years to 2019, Network Rail is spending more than £38 billion to maintain and improve the network.

Highways England: Assets

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 21 of the Annual Report and Accounts of Highways England, published in August 2016, HC 529, what forecast he has made of when the better asset data system will be fully tested and brought online.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways England initiative to deploy a better asset system is being delivered under a programme termed the Integrated Asset Management Information System (IAMIS) in accordance with their Asset Management Strategy. This is being delivered as a rolling programme of development and delivery that is enhancing Highways England’s capability over time. The programme has already seen the delivery of a number of core maintenance management modules in seven of Highways England’s twelve regions, as well as a foundation national network model that was delivered in March 2016. The remaining parts of the system are currently in development and will be tested and brought on line incrementally, with the latest forecast showing programme completion during the financial year 2019/20.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Vacancies

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the haulage industry on the reported shortage of HGV drivers.

Mr John Hayes: Departmental Ministers meet representatives of the haulage industry on a regular basis to discuss issues affecting the sector including the driver shortage. In response to these discussions the government has taken action to increase the supply of vocational driving tests, improved processing times for licences and discussed the availability of facilities for drivers. In addition, Ministerial colleagues have met industry representatives to discuss the development and funding of apprenticeships and providing targeted support for jobseekers.

London Airports: Yorkshire and the Humber

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of airport expansion at (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick Airport on job creation in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Mr John Hayes: Our global connections are crucial for British business and benefit the whole country. The economic benefits to the UK as a whole, not just London and the South East, will be taken into consideration when making a decision on a preferred scheme for airport expansion, alongside a range of other relevant evidence.

Leeds-Bradford Airport: Transport

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the lack of a direct route between Leeds Bradford Airport and Heathrow Airport on Yorkshire's economy until that link was restored in 2012.

Mr John Hayes: No such assessment has been made.

Leeds-Bradford Airport: BRIC Countries

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers from Leeds Bradford Airport travelled to (a) Brazil, (b) Russia, (c) India and (d) China via Heathrow Airport in 2015.

Mr John Hayes: It is estimated that fewer than 10,000 passengers flew between Leeds Bradford airport and the countries listed via Heathrow in 2015.

Aviation: Yorkshire and the Humber

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many annual flight movements between airports in Yorkshire and the Humber and (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick Airport took place in each year between 2000 and 2015.

Mr John Hayes: The table below shows air transport movements between airports in Yorkshire and the Humber and Heathrow and Gatwick in 2000 to 2015.  Air transport movements (arrivals and departures) HeathrowGatwick20002,730-20012,53033020022,5001,90020032,61045020042,530-20052,520-20062,560-20072,880-20082,5901020096008702010-1,6102011-39020121601020132,1301020141,8601020151,90010Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 Almost all these flights were to/from Leeds Bradford airport.

Aviation: North of England

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers from airports across northern England travelled to (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick and (c) Schiphol Airport in 2015.

Mr John Hayes: The table below shows the number of passengers at airports in northern England flying to/from Heathrow, Gatwick or Schiphol in 2015.  HeathrowGatwickAmsterdam SchipholPassengers (arrivals and departures)1,430,00029,0001,939,000 Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Transport: Capital Investment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many business cases for projects were submitted to his Department in the 2015-16 financial year in each region; and what the value was of (a) public and (b) private investment requested at stage two of each of those submissions in each such region.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many large-scale business cases submitted by his Department to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority were accepted in the 2015-16 financial year in each region; and what the value of (a) public and (b) private sector funding committed was for each of those projects in each such region.

Mr John Hayes: The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) provides expertise, practical help and independent assurance of major projects, working with all partners in infrastructure and major projects (government departments, project teams, HMT, Cabinet Office, and the private sector). The remit of the IPA does not include providing formal approval and as such departments do not submit business cases to the IPA for approval. The IPA publish an annual comprehensive forward-looking assessment of the current and planned investment in UK economic infrastructure across both the public and private sectors (The National Infrastructure Pipeline). This document contains financial information of the level of public and private infrastructure investment broken down by region currently in development and planned to 2021 and beyond. The Spring 2016 update can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-2016.

Public Transport: Disability

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve access to public transport for disabled people.

Andrew Jones: The Government recognises how important improving access to public transport is for disabled people and is committed to making transport more inclusive. Since its launch in 2006, the £390m Access for All rail programme (which was further extended with £160m in 2014) has delivered accessible routes at over 150 stations. There are also 68 further projects at various stages of construction or development. We also recognise that positive interactions with bus drivers can make a big difference to disabled people’s experience of taking the bus. We are working with the bus industry and disabled people to design best practice guidance in delivering disability awareness training which, we hope, will help to give bus drivers the skills and knowledge to assist every disabled passenger. In addition, the Bus Services Bill will specifically allow enhanced partnership schemes to require all buses within a local area to provide audible and visual next stop information. Authorities using the new franchising powers will be able to place similar requirements on affected operators. The Government has also agreed to consider amendments on this issue which were tabled during the Bill’s committee stage in the House of Lords. The Government intends to publish an Accessibility Action Plan by the end of the year which will present its ambition for further progress on this important agenda.

Tintwistle, Hollingworth and Mottram Bypass

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide an update on his Department's preparations for the Mottram by-pass.

Mr John Hayes: Highways England is currently identifying and assessing options for the Trans Pennine Routes which includes the Mottram by-pass. A public consultation on the Preferred Route is currently planned to take place in early 2017. There will also be two public awareness events in October 2016 which will provide an opportunity for people in the local communities to meet the project team, receive an update on progress and provide feedback which can then be used in the development of the scheme. Planning permission for this scheme will require an application for a Development Consent Order and start of works is planned by March 2020 in line with the Highways England’s Delivery Plan 2015 – 2020.

Roads: South East

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) local authorities and (b) other organisations on which (i) key net roads and (ii) highway responsibilities could be devolved to the proposed Solent combined authority.

Mr John Hayes: DfT officials have had some early conversations with local authorities about the possibilities for coordinating/improving transport delivery across the Solent area as part of potential combined authority proposals. Discussions across Government are still ongoing.

Home Office

Security Industry Authority: Standards

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken was to respond to email enquiries by the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The average time taken to respond to electronic (e-mail or online) enquiries is unavailable in the format requested prior to July 2016.From July 2016, the Security Industry Authority began using a new IT system, which has enabled it to produce a range of metrics. The average time taken to respond to electronic enquiries in July and August was 7 days against their service standard of 10 days.

Security Industry Authority: Standards

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Security Industry Authority has met its performance target of 80 per cent of applications being processed within 25 days in each month since January 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have an annual performance target to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days. The SIA met this annual target in the 2015/16 financial year. Performance for 2016/17 to date is shown in the table below.  AprMayJuneJulyAugPercentage processed in 25 working days86%81%80%46%72%

Security Industry Authority: Standards

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to process applications and renewals by the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The average time taken to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days is unavailable in the format requested.The Security Industry Authority's (SIA’s) new IT system (introduced in July 2016) enables more detailed performance analysis. The system shows that the average number of days for processing applications (including renewals) was 38 days in July and 30 days in August.Once fully embedded, the SIA expect that the processing time for applications will be quicker than under the old system.

Security Guards: Licensing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provisions the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has in place to compensate individuals who have lost their job as a result of delays of problems in SIA licence applications or renewals.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 15 September 2016



Applicants for Security Industry Authority licences who have been unable to work while waiting for their licence to be renewed, and who request reimbursement for loss of earnings, can contact the Security Industry Authority to provide evidence of the loss suffered. Payment of compensation will then be considered, based on the evidence provided and a review of all the circumstances of the application.

Police: Helicopters

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance has been issued on the criteria used for deployment of police air support when a vehicle has failed to stop.

Brandon Lewis: The College of Policing has issued Authorised Professional Practice on the management of vehicle pursuits which includes guidance on the use of air support. Deployment of police air support is an operational matter. Since October 2012, the provision of air support to the forces of England and Wales has been the responsibility of the National Police Air Service.

Police: Dogs

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the availability of police dogs nationally; and what estimate she has made of the number of police forces that have introduced the recommended ratio of dogs to officers.

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police dogs are available at any given time to the West Yorkshire Police Force; and how such police dogs are geographically deployed.

Brandon Lewis: Operational decisions on the availability and deployment of dogs are made on a force by force basis and are a matter for chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

Assaults on Police

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage police officers and police community support officers (PCSO) to report assaults sustained in the line of duty, (b) standardise the procedure for reporting assaults across the 48 police forces and (c) standardise the procedures for investigating and responding to an alleged assault on an officer or PCSO.

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the severity of sentencing on deterring assaults of police officers; and if she will take steps to ensure that people who assault police officers receive the toughest possible sentences.

Brandon Lewis: I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.

Police

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of response officers (a) working as a single crew and (b) responding to 999 calls alone.

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the protection of single crew police officers.

Brandon Lewis: Individual chief constables are best placed to assess the risks to their force and decisions about patrol policy must remain with them. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff. Chief constables keep their patrol policies under regular review and decide how best to respond to their local circumstances.

Spit Guards

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spit hoods and the extent of their use by police forces.

Brandon Lewis: The use of ‘spit hoods’, as with any other use of restraint or force, is an operational matter for Chief Officers. Accordingly, the Home Office has not conducted any assessments on their use or the extent of use by police forces in England and Wales. However, the Home Office is clear that all uses of force or restraint must be necessary and proportionate.In recognition of the importance of ensuring transparency in how police forces use various means of restraint, the former Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to review what data should be collected and published. The review recommended that forces record a range of data in all instances when significant force is used, including restraint techniques and the use of spit hoods. The data to be collected includes the age, gender, ethnicity and sex of the subject, the type of force used, reason for the use of force, and the outcome of the incident. The new data collection system is currently being piloted in a number of forces before it is implemented nationwide. We expect all use of force records to be published by forces, and a subset of the data will be part of the mandatory requirement for the 2017/18 Annual Data Requirement (ADR).

Radicalism: Northern Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the counter extremism strategy.

Sarah Newton: The Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland agreed prior to publication of the Counter-Extremism Strategy (October 2015) that the strategy would not extend to Northern Ireland at this stage.Home Office officials have engaged colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Office, including during visits to Belfast. We remain keen to maintain this engagement to share ideas and discuss all aspects of the strategy.

Asylum: Religious Freedom

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of training of assessors for asylum applications where religious persecution is the reason for the application.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on their individual merits, including claims based on religious persecution. We grant protection to those who genuinely need it in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.Published guidance on the interviewing and consideration of asylum claims is regularly reviewed and takes into consideration the views of stakeholders, including religious groups. The current training and support available for asylum caseworkers includes a the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees endorsed Foundation Training Programme. This, and follow-on courses, covers all aspects of the asylum interview and decision making process, including the assessment of credibility and country information in religious based claims. Real-life case studies and role-play are used throughout the training programme to reinforce knowledge and understanding of the issues.We are carefully considering the report and recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief published in June 2016 and will provide a response in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

COST

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will discuss with Cabinet colleagues prioritising the UK's continuing membership of and participation in the COST network in negotiations to leave the EU.

Joseph Johnson: UK membership of COST is independent from European Union membership and does not form part of the negotiations to leave the EU. COST is an intergovernmental framework with 36 member countries, including Iceland, Turkey and other countries that are not European Union member states. Our future membership of COST will be decided on the basis of its continuing value to the UK.

Industry

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to prepare an industrial strategy as a result of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Mr Nick Hurd: The focus on a proper industrial strategy provides a once in generation chance to embrace the opportunities of our new global role and upgrade our economy so it works for everyone. We will work with the breadth of British industry, local leaders, innovators, employees and consumers to create the conditions for future success across the UK.The economic recovery of recent years means that our economy is better able to withstand the challenges of exiting the European Union. Our industrial strategy will support and encourage companies to trade internationally, create a business environment that will attract overseas investors to locate for the long term and identify and maximise the opportunities from leaving the European Union.

Satellites

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage companies to capitalise on markets that make use of satellite data, such as maritime surveillance and satellite broadband.

Joseph Johnson: The industry-led Space Innovation and Growth Strategy set out that space services and applications are likely to provide the majority of future growth in the sector. Maritime surveillance and satellite broadband were highlighted in this strategy as priority growth opportunities, and the UK Space Agency has been working with industry to remove barriers to growth and develop specific opportunities in these areas.In 2013, Innovate UK established the Satellite Applications Catapult specifically to help UK industry to develop applications and services based on space data and grasp these new opportunities. The UK Space Agency’s Space for Smarter Government Programme works across Government to promote the intelligent use of space data. An outcome from that programme is the use of satellite broadband to support the NHS’s mobile breast-cancer screening services.

Space Technology

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans for the proposed UK spaceport to have vertical launch capacity.

Joseph Johnson: The Government is examining the case for commercial spaceflight and launching small satellites from both runway-based spaceports and a vertical launch spaceport. The UK Space Agency is working with the Department for Transport to draft legislation that will enable both horizontal, sub-orbital and vertical launch spaceflight operations from the UK as part of the Modern Transport Bill.

Space Technology

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage investment in British space and satellite companies.

Joseph Johnson: The Government’s intent to grow the UK’s Space sector was set out most recently in our National Space Policy, which we published in 2015. The UK Space Agency deploys a broad range of mechanisms, working with other delivery partners such as Innovate UK, Local Economic Partnerships, the European Space Agency and the Satellite Applications Catapult, to encourage investment in British Space companies. These measures include working closely with industry to identify and remove regulatory barriers to growth, investing in innovative technology needed to enter new space markets and building the national facilities essential to develop the UK’s future space products. We have also set up the structures needed to drive investment and growth, for example, the UK Space Gateway at Harwell in Oxfordshire. The UK Space Agency also works closely with the Department for International Trade to secure overseas inward investment and develop export opportunities for the space industry.

Motor Vehicles: Telecommunications

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what research his Department is undertaking on standards for short-range vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles is currently engaged in the second phase of a joint project with the British Standards Institute and the Transport Systems Catapult to map current standards, identify gaps, and determine how best to utilise standards in support of UK industry. This work encompasses vehicle connectivity such as short-range vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and will report early next year.

Space Technology

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will pursue an expanded national space programme alongside the UK's contribution to the European Space Agency.

Joseph Johnson: The UK obtains excellent value from its investment as a member of the European Space Agency (ESA), allowing UK scientists to engage in world-class science in earth observation, space science, exploration, robotics and microgravity research, and providing significant commercial opportunities for UK industry.The UK’s investment in ESA enables our involvement in research programmes like the Rosetta-Philae mission (the first ever landing on a comet) and the GAIA mission (mapping the galaxy in an unprecedented level of detail.In addition to our investments through ESA, the UK also funds a National Programme, whose budget has grown from around £20m p.a. when the Agency was established on 1st April 2011, to £88m p.a..The Government protected funding for space in cash terms in the recent spending review, and both our investment in ESA, and our National Space Programme, support the development of the UK space sector, which is growing at a much faster rate than the economy as a whole.

Business

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on UK business of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Mr Nick Hurd: The fundamentals of Britain’s economy are strong. Leaving the EU provides an opportunity for even greater openness with international partners, including Europe. The Government remains committed to making Britain the best place in Europe to grow a business and to achieve this, we will support industry and encourage Foreign Direct Investment.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (a) how much funding and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff will be transferred to his Department from the Department for Energy and Climate Change upon the conclusion of the process of merging that Department with his Department.

Joseph Johnson: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) transferred its responsibilities and resources to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in full.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Uzbekistan: Politics and Government

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the future leadership of Uzbekistan following the death of President Karimov.

Sir Alan Duncan: On 8 September, a joint session of the Upper and Lower Chambers of the Uzbek Parliament appointed Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoev as Acting President of Uzbekistan and tasked the Central Electoral Commission to organise Presidential elections. The Central Electoral Commission has since announced that these will take place on 4 December.

Ilois: Resettlement

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take in respect of the recommendations in paragraph 41 of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's concluding observations on the 21st to 23rd periodic report, published on 26 August 2016, on facilitating the resettlement of the Chagossians.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government is aware of the recommendations of the Committee of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in respect to the resettlement of Chagossians. Ratification of the Convention has not been extended to the British Indian Ocean Territory and such questions remain outside the remit of the Committee. The Government remains committed to its review of current policy on resettlement and will continue to keep Parliament, Chagossians and their supporters closely informed of progress on the issue.

Kashmir: Violence

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to encourage a de-escalation of violence in Kashmir in response to the recent unrest in that region.

Alok Sharma: I remain very concerned by reports of violence and offer my condolences to the victims and their families. The UK abides by its commitments under international law and expects all countries to comply with their international legal obligations. Our High Commission in Delhi is monitoring the situation closely and we have updated our travel advice.

South Korea: Dogs

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the South Korean government on the dog meat trade.

Alok Sharma: I spoke to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Ambassador on 12 September, ahead of a Westminster Hall Debate on the dog meat trade in ROK, to raise the issue of the dog meat trade and highlight the strength of feeling among the British public and Parliamentarians on this issue. As I stated in the Westminster Hall Debate, there is evidence that attitudes among the ROK public towards the dog meat trade and animal welfare are changing. We hope to encourage that change. The British Ambassador in RoK most recently raised the dog meat trade directly in Seoul on 1 September, highlighting our concerns about the treatment and welfare of animals. The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and the British Government will continue to promote animal welfare with our international partners.I have included a copy of the transcript of the 12 September Westminster Hall Debate with this answer.



Dogmeat debate, Westminster Hall, 12/9/2016 1630
(Word Document, 85.39 KB)

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Procurement

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the large increase in public sector contracts going out to tender since the EU referendum.

Ben Gummer: The overarching principle behind all public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of achieving the best value for money for the taxpayer.It is the responsibility of the individual contracting authorities to decide whether, how and when to go to market for the procurement of goods and services.Analysis by the Crown Commercial Service shows no significant variation in the number of above threshold opportunities advertised in the Official Journal of the EU. Analysis of opportunities over £10k advertised on Contracts Finder show a drop in the levels of procurement activity prior to the referendum, consistent with deferring advertisements during the Civil Service’s period of “purdah”, rather than a sudden increase in new activity since the referendum.

Government Departments: Scotland

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that all Government departments undertake a cross-cutting review on the effect of their policies on (a) inequalities in health and (b) deprivation in (i) Glasgow and (ii) Scotland.

Ben Gummer: All UK Government policies and legislation that extend to Scotland in reserved areas, as would be the case with Wales and Northern Ireland, are accompanied by the necessary economic and equality impact assessments, which are published.

Civil Servants: Training

Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2016 to Question 40168, what proportion of Civil Service Fast Streamers undertook a regional placement in each fiscal year since 2009-10.

Ben Gummer: The Fast Stream Scheme uses graduate years rather than fiscal years for the Fast Stream Cycle of 1 September – 31 August. The total number of Fast Streamers per graduate year that undertook regional placements based on our Fast Stream cycle is shown below.All YEARProportion*Total*CommentPopulation1st Sep 2013 – 31 Aug 201441%111Includes postings to secondment organisations and government departments2691st Sep 2014 – 31 Aug 201535%1815191st Sep 2015 – 31 Aug 201634%213628 Notes* The figures are for those on the Corporate Generalist Fast Stream Programme who have undertaken posts outside  of London during that particular year* The data was calculated on 12/09/2016

Government Digital Service: Resignations

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in the Government Digital Service have left his Department since 13 July 2016.

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials have left his Department since 13 July 2016.

Ben Gummer: Between 13 July 2016 and 13 September 2016, 71 staff left my Department. The majority of these departures, 50 in total, were planned exits (loans and fixed-term appointments ending, retirements, transfers out to other Departments, and voluntary exits). Of those staff who left the Department, six were employed in the Government Digital Service. Over the same period, 67 staff joined the Government Digital Service.

Cabinet Office: Career Breaks

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department have applied for career breaks in the last 12 months.

Ben Gummer: Records of applications for career breaks – approved and rejected – are not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to determine.I can confirm, however, that at 31st August 2016, 26 officials in my Department had commenced an approved career break in the last 12 months.

Honours: Males

Karl McCartney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44840, on honours: males, if he will take steps to ensure that all future press releases on honours nominations include men when appealing for nominations of people who deserve an honour.

Ben Gummer: Anyone can nominate anyone for an honour. The Cabinet Office outreach includes this message in all public communications, including press releases.

Cabinet Office: Heathrow Airport Limited

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of staff departing from (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister's Office who accepted jobs with Heathrow Airport Limited; and what estimate he has made of the number of staff arriving in (i) his Department and (ii) the Prime Minister's Office from Heathrow Airport Limited in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office: Secondment

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff have been seconded into his Department from outside the Civil Service in the last 12 months.

Ben Gummer: In the last 12 months, 15 individuals have been seconded into my Department from outside the Civil Service.Secondments bring in external expertise and a fresh perspective across the department's responsibilities, and include secondees from the private, public and voluntary sector.

Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the current work priorities are of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Ben Gummer: The IPA was formed on 01 January 2016, merging the existing Cabinet Office Major Projects Authority and HM Treasury’s Infrastructure UK. The IPA reports jointly to HMT and the Cabinet Office - and brings together the strengths of both departments - increasing co-operation and alignment in the centre of government on infrastructure and major projects.The Authority’s 6 key priorities are;To set the right policy environment for projects to succeedTo give the market confidence to deliverTo ensue projects and programmes are set up for success from the outsetTo ensure projects and programmes deliver their intended benefitsTo promote the right operating environment for project deliveryTo developing world-class project delivery & project finance capabilities across government

Attorney General

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, if he will list by offence type the number and proportion of cases in which the Crown Prosecution Service has opposed bail on the grounds of the associated person exception for (a) male and (b) female defendants in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number cases where bail has been opposed. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Stalking: Sentencing

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on offences under section 4A of the Protection from Harassment 1998 Act being referred to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue leniency.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on offences under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 being referred to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue leniency.

Robert Buckland: Neither of these offences are covered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and therefore the Law Officers have no power to refer sentences for these offences to the Court of Appeal.The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

Department for International Development

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Rory Stewart: Yemen is one of the most serious and complex humanitarian crises in the world. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 21.2 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs for food, water, sanitation, and healthcare, or protect their fundamental rights. Yemen is also experiencing an economic crisis, which has driven up food and other prices, and reduced people’s purchasing power.Ultimately, only an end to the conflict will address the humanitarian crisis. The UK is working closely with other countries to de-escalate the conflict and is providing significant support to UN-led peace talks. The UK is also working with the UN and other countries to improve commercial and humanitarian access to and within Yemen. We are providing desperately needed humanitarian aid to Yemen and have so far committed to spending £72 million in Yemen this year.

Kurds: Internally Displaced People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to the Kurdistan regional government related to internally displaced people in that region.

Rory Stewart: Since June 2014, the UK has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq. This includes cash assistance, access to clean water, food, medicines and other life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable people, including internally displaced people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.Given the importance of a coordinated response, we have provided £1 million of funding to UNDP to support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Joint Crisis Centre (JCC), and its equivalent for the Government of Iraq, the Joint Crisis and Monitoring Centre (JCMC). The JCC is leading humanitarian efforts for the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to (a) support the Yemen economy and (b) ensure that there is an adequate supply of food and oil imports.

Rory Stewart: We are deeply concerned about the economic crisis in Yemen and are working closely with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, Government of Yemen and other key countries to look at measures to stabilise the Yemeni economy.We are also providing £1.4 million to support the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to facilitate the flow of commercial shipping, which is crucial to ensuring adequate supplies of food and fuel.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken to raise the profile of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Rory Stewart: Despite being one of the most serious and complex humanitarian crises in the world, Yemen is the world’s most serious forgotten crisis. The Secretary of State is co-hosting an international event on the Yemen crisis at the UN General Assembly on 21 September to shine a spotlight on the crisis and call for a step change in humanitarian delivery on the ground.

Iraq: Armed Conflict

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the potential for a mass civilian evacuation from Mosul.

Rory Stewart: DFID is working closely with officials across Government, and with the Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, the United Nations, and the international community to support an effective Iraqi–led humanitarian response in Mosul. My officials are in contact with Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence colleagues on a regular basis.DFID recently announced an extra £50 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq, taking our total humanitarian commitment to £129.5 million since June 2014. This will address existing humanitarian needs and support preparations for the humanitarian response in and around Mosul. The UK has also committed £20 million to help stabilise areas in Iraq liberated from Daesh.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government donated to the UN Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan in 2015-16; and how much the Government plans to donate to that Plan in 2016-17.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much humanitarian funding the Government gave to Yemen in 2015-16; and how much the Government plans to give to that country in 2016-17.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 15 September to Question number 45832.

Developing Countries: Education

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all children complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2020.

James Wharton: The UK Government is committed to ensuring all children are able to complete a full cycle of quality education. Between 2011 and 2015 DFID supported over 11 million children into primary and lower secondary school (7.5 million children in countries considered fragile), and training 380,000 teachers through our multilateral partners. In 2015, the UK again committed to support a further 11 million children in the poorest countries to gain a decent education by 2020.DFID is also supporting up to one million of the world’s poorest girls through DFID’s Girls Education Challenge (GEC). In July, DFID co-hosted the first, hugely successful Girls’ Education Forum in London and announced a further £100 million through the GEC to continue this support and help an additional 175,000 of the poorest, most marginalised adolescent girls in the world to get a decent education.

Department for Education

Students: Fees and Charges

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential trends in the cost of tuition fees to students over the next 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will allow institutions offering high quality teaching to access tuition fees up to an RPI(X) inflation linked maximum fee cap. Students on courses starting from August 2017 will be affected if the successful institutions choose to increase their fees towards the higher fee cap. These students will not be affected in real terms as tuition fees will not increase by more than inflation.

Higher Education: Liverpool City Region

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school leavers in each of the local authorities of the Liverpool City Region who were (a) entitled and (b) not entitled to free school meals went to university in the last five years for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: Information is given on the number and percentage of students completing key stage 5 study (A level and other level 3 qualifications) in mainstream state-funded schools and colleges, and progressing to study at a UK Higher Education Institution for at least two terms the following year; in each of the last four years for which information is available. Free school meal eligibility is as recorded when students were in year 11.The tables attached show figures for the six local authorities in the Liverpool City Region: a) Halton, b) Knowsley, c) Sefton, d) St Helen’s, e) Wirral, and f) Liverpool. Comparable figures for g) the North West and h) England are given for context. Numbers of pupils are shown rounded to the nearest ten, as published. Percentages are calculated on unrounded figures.Information on pupil destinations at local authority, regional and national level is published annually on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations



PQ_45287_Pupil_Destinations
(Word Document, 98 KB)

Department for Education: EU Nationals

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many citizens of other EU countries work in her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not keep records of whether its employees are citizens of other EU countries. Departmental staff includes Executive Agencies, but excludes Non-Departmental Public Bodies and all non-payroll staff as this information is not held centrally.

Pre-school Education: Finance

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to ensure that the forthcoming review of fair funding for early years education will include measures to help close the attainment gap at age five.

Caroline Dinenage: This Government is committed to narrowing the gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and their peers, including in the early years. We will be investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements. The 2014-15 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66% in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. Furthermore, a higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014. We need to continue this improvement. This is why we propose an additional needs factor in our new early years national funding formula, in order to channel funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs. Our consultation on early years funding reform is currently open, and I would encourage my Honourable Friend and his constituents to submit their views. The Government already provides additional funding for the most disadvantaged three- and four-year olds through the Early Years Pupil Premium. This will continue as a separate funding stream, additional to the early years national funding formula.

Grammar Schools: Pupil Premium

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of grammar school entrants are in receipt of the pupil premium in (a) England and (b) each region.

Edward Timpson: The proportion of grammar school pupils in receipt of the pupil premium in (a) England and (b) each region are given in the table.RegionNumber of grammar schoolsProportion of pupils receiving pupil premiumEast Midlands1512.5%East of England85.6%London197.6%North West196.9%South East578.1%South West209.2%West Midlands1910.0%Yorkshire and the Humber67.4%England Total1638.5%

Languages: GCE A-level

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the potential effect of the decreasing uptake of languages at A-level on (a) the uptake of language courses at university and (b) the number of language graduates training to be language teachers.

Nick Gibb: The decline in the study of modern foreign languages started in 2004 when the former Government removed the compulsory study of languages from the Key Stage 4 curriculum. By 2010 fewer than half – 43 per cent – of pupils took a GCSE in a modern foreign language, down from 76 per cent of pupils in 2000. The inclusion of a modern foreign or ancient language in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) increased the number of students studying at least one language at GCSE between 2010 and 2015. This has increased the pool of students able to progress to study languages at A level and beyond. The Government will publish their response to the EBacc consultation in due course and is already incentivising the take-up of language A levels in the 16-19 performance tables through the facilitating subject measure. To support prospective students’ choice of degree we are making improvements to the information they can access, particularly on the employment outcomes they can expect from their Higher Education (HE) studies. This should allow students to understand better the advantages of studying a language at university. Furthermore, provisions in the Higher Education and Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, will allow Government, in future, to instruct the HE regulator to incentivise or protect the supply of courses, such as language courses, which are economically and culturally important. We are also encouraging the best language graduates to enter the teaching profession, through financial incentives such as a bursary of £25,000 for trainees with a first class or 2:1 degree in languages.

GCSE

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps have been taken to ensure that teachers are able to identify the progress of students in (a) English language, (b) English literature and (c) mathematics who will be assessed using the new GCSE grading structure in the summer of 2017.

Nick Gibb: The Department, together with Ofqual and Awarding Organisations, is working closely with schools to help them to understand and be ready for new GCSEs. Sample assessment materials, mark schemes and grade descriptors are all available and will help schools to understand what is required. Assessment of pupils’ progress is a matter for schools. School leaders and teachers should use their professional judgement to establish their own assessment systems that best support teaching. From this year, Progress 8, which measures the progress that pupils make across 8 qualifications compared to other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment, will be reported for the first time. Progress in each of the subject elements of Progress 8, including English and maths, will also be published. This new accountability system is a fairer way of measuring school performance and will incentivise and reward the good teaching of all pupils.

Further and Higher Education

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential risks to further and higher education in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK of the UK leaving the EU.

Joseph Johnson: The Government values students, educators and researchers from outside the UK who come to learn and work in the UK, including in its devolved nations. UK universities, further education (FE) colleges and providers are home both to world-class teaching and to world-leading research, and exiting the EU will not change this. Future arrangements for migration, higher education and FE student funding, and UK students studying abroad will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.

Schools: Uniforms

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on gender equality of school uniforms.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on the self-esteem of female pupils of having to wear a uniform.

Caroline Dinenage: The department has published advisory guidance on school uniform policy. The guidance makes clear that it is for the governing body of a school to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy and if so what that should be. It also makes clear that, when deciding on uniform policy, a school will have to consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully, including on the basis of gender.The guidance can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

Pre-school Education: Males

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of boys aged under five who have not achieved expected standards of language and communication.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government recognises a key part of raising the standard of education for all children, regardless of background or gender, is to ensure they receive a good level of development in literacy and numeracy before they start school at age five. To support this we have introduced an early years pupil premium to help providers support the learning and development needs of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework sets the prime areas of learning that early years providers must follow. This includes a focus on communication and language. The Early Years Foundation stage is published on gov.uk and can be accessed through the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf The EYFS makes clear that all children should be given opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations. It also requires practitioners to make sure that children have sufficient opportunities to learn and develop a good standard in English language so they are ready to begin year 1. The 2014-15 EYFS Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66% in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. The EYFS Profile results also show that more than 80% of children are reaching the expected communication and language skills by age five, but we will continue to work with the sector to make sure every child gets the high quality education they deserve. The quality of early education is improving, the numbers of qualified staff have risen, the numbers of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and a record number of providers are rated good or outstanding, with 86% of providers currently on the Early Years Register judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness at 31 March 2016.

Nurseries: Teachers

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that more nurseries employ qualified early years teachers.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government recognises that graduates are an important part of the early years workforce, and that is why in 2013 we introduced the early years initial teacher training programme which leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status. We have made a significant investment in this programme by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees. The number of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and between 2008 and 2013 the proportion of full day care staff with a degree or higher increased from 5% to 13%. The Government wants to see more trained graduates in the workforce in the future. The early years workforce strategy is in development this year and will set out how government will help to remove barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. It will look at the barriers to growing the body of graduates in the workforce in England.

Pre-school Education: Males

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to close the gap in language and communication skills between boys aged five and under from disadvantaged backgrounds and those the same age from other backgrounds.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government recognises a key part of raising the standard of education for all children, regardless of background, is to ensure they receive a good level of development in literacy and numeracy before they start school at age five. This is why in 2010 we extended the free entitlement to 15 hours for all three and four year olds, and in 2013 introduced the entitlement for two-year-olds, which has increased early education take-up for children from the most disadvantaged families. We have also introduced an early years pupil premium to help providers support the learning and development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework sets the prime areas of learning that early years providers must follow. This includes a focus on communication and language. The Early Years Foundation stage is published on gov.uk and can be accessed through the following link;https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf The 2014-15 EYFS Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66% in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. The EYFS Profile results also show that more than 80% of children are reaching the expected communication and language skills by age five. A higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014. Although the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is narrowing, we recognise there is still some way to go. The quality of early education is improving, the numbers of qualified staff have risen, the numbers of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and a record number of providers are rated good or outstanding, with 86% of providers currently on the Early Years Register judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness at 31 March 2016.

Ministry of Justice

Administration of Justice: Audio Recordings

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether litigants in person have a right to receive copies of audio recordings of cases they have been involved in; and whether any charge is levied for such copies.

Sir Oliver Heald: Litigants in person have the same rights to information as legal representatives. There is no automatic right for any party to either listen to or receive copies of audio recordings made by the court in cases they are involved in. Litigants in person, like legal representatives, can make a general application to the judge hearing the proceedings for permission to access relevant audio recordings provided they have first obtained an official transcript. Any application for access will be considered by the judge on its merits.

Forensic Science: Evidence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effect of current timescales for the return of forensic evidence on the length of time court cases are taking to progress.

Sir Oliver Heald: The timetabling of necessary pre-trial preparation and the giving of appropriate directions for an effective trial listing is a judicial matter. The parties will advise the court at a preliminary hearing of any issues affecting readiness for trial, including the availability of required forensic evidence, and it rests with the court to make appropriate decisions about the trial date.

Prisoners: Homosexuality

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) male prisoners who are homosexual and (ii) female prisoners who are lesbian.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The National Offender Management Service Annual Offender Equalities Report will for the first time include prisoner declaration data in relation to sexual orientation.

Mental Capacity

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to publish the Government's review of Section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice plan to publish a report on the use of section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in due course.

Prison Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) male and (ii) female offenders were sent to prison by (A) offence type and (B) number of previous convictions at the time of sentence in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The number of men and women who entered prison, by offence type, in each of the last five years is available on gov.uk. The figures relating to the number of previous convictions received by those individuals could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

First Offenders: Prison Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) male and (ii) female offenders by offence type were sent to prison for their first offence in each year since 2012.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested is available on gov.uk.

First Offenders: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women were sentenced for a first offence of wounding with intent in each of the last 10 years; what the sentence was in each such case; and what the average sentence was by sex for that offence in each such year.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, taking into account all the circumstances of the offence and the offender. Courts must follow sentencing guidelines and there will be many factors which will account for different sentencing outcomes, including the nature and seriousness of the offence committed, and whether there was a guilty plea. The number of men and women sentenced for a first offence of wounding with intent in each of the last 10 years from year ending March 2007, the sentence imposed, and the average custodial sentence length is shown in the tables below. Number of offenders sentenced for their first wounding with intent offence, by gender and sentencing outcome, England and Wales, annually from year ending March 2007.   Numbers Sentencing OutcomeYear Ending March2007200820092010201120122013201420152016All Offenders13,2402,6112,5332,8683,0462,9462,6412,2751,7631,594 Absolute Discharge0200110110 Conditional Discharge13935953121 Fine11831321323 Community Sentence38819613014222817091845946 Suspended Sentence38726724231939329031331211063 Immediate Custody2,3252,0142,0472,2842,2812,3412,1261,7871,5061,405 Other Disposal116115108117131137107878376Male Offenders2,9262,3702,2902,5842,7092,6312,3552,0481,6311,476 Absolute Discharge0200110010 Conditional Discharge12813653111 Fine10831321322 Community Sentence2981659710418511668694940 Suspended Sentence3042061852333002172232298653 Immediate Custody2,2051,8891,9102,1392,0972,1731,9711,6701,4211,317 Other Disposal97929410411711789767163Female Offenders312240242283335311283225129114 Absolute Discharge0000000100 Conditional Discharge1122300010 Fine1000000001 Community Sentence8931333742522315106 Suspended Sentence82615786927390822410 Immediate Custody1201241361451841661521168285 Other Disposal19231413142018111212Source: Ministry of Justices extract of the Police National Computer   1. All offenders includes cases where gender is unknown.2. All data have been taken from the MoJ extract of the Police National Computer. This includes details of all convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings given for recordable offences (see www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/schedule/made for definition). It is therefore possible that some offenders presented in the table above have previously also received convictions for offences not recorded on the PNC. Average custodial sentence lengths1 for offender's first wounding with intent offence by gender, England and Wales, annually from year ending March 2007.  Average custodial sentence lengths (months) Year Ending MarchGender2007200820092010201120122013201420152016All offenders236.838.243.943.243.550.456.859.172.576.4Males offenders37.238.744.243.944.550.957.559.873.777.3Females offenders29.231.938.732.932.644.848.348.553.962.7Source: Ministry of Justices extract of the Police National Computer1. Excludes life sentences or where sentence length in unknown.  2. All offenders includes cases where gender is unknown.  3. All data have been taken from the MoJ extract of the Police National Computer. This includes details of all convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings given for recordable offences (see www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/schedule/made for definition). It is therefore possible that some offenders presented in the table above have previously also received convictions for offences not recorded on the PNC.

Reoffenders

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious further offences were committed between (a) June 2015 and June 2016 and (b) June 2013 and June 2014.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Between 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014, 497 offenders subject to probation supervision were charged with a serious further offence (SFO). Between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016, 581 offenders subject to probation supervision were charged with a SFO. These two sets of data are not directly comparable due to the impact of the Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2014. Prior to the enactment of ORA 2014, any offenders sentenced to under 12 months imprisonment would not have fallen within scope, as they would not have been subject to probation supervision. It is important to note that not all offenders charged will result in the conviction for a SFO.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the ability of Working Links to provide a good quality service at Wales, Avon Bristol and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall and Dorset Community Rehabilitation Centres since the acquisition of that company by Aurelius; and what contingency plans her Department has for ownership of those services being acquired by companies unsuited to delivering them.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Working Links Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are continuing to provide services in accordance with their contracts and are being robustly managed by our contract management teams to make sure they fulfil their contractual obligations in relation to service delivery, reducing reoffending, protecting the public and providing value for money to the taxpayer. Nothing in the department’s contracts with the CRCs owned by Working Links has changed as a result of the sale. Due diligence investigations were carried out prior to the sale to make sure services will continue to be satisfactorily provided.

Probation

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to publish the findings of the Probation Service Review.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As is usual with any major transition of public services, we continually evaluate and review how those changes are operating, to support the achievement of our objectives. This is internal evaluation and there are no plans to publish this work.

Prisons: Civil Disorder

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) on how many occasions, (b) in which prisons and (c) for what incidents the (i) Tornado Team was called, (ii) Gold Command was opened and (iii) National Tactical Response Group was called in each month since January 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Gold Command arrangements provide for strategic and operational oversight to the management of prison incidents. All incidents are regarded as potentially serious at the point of the Gold suite being opened. The Gold Command Suite has been opened to oversee the management of a range of incidents during 2016 as indicated in Table 1. Table 1 – Gold Command Suite Openings by Establishment/Incident Type and Month in 2016Prison/IncidentJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugBristolHostage  1 BrixtonHostage 1  Cookham WoodHostage  1 DoncasterHostage  1 ElmleyHostage1   ErlestokeConcerted Indiscipline 1  FeatherstoneBarricade   1GartreeHostage 1  Glen ParvaHostage  1 HaveriggBarricade1   Concerted Indiscipline  11High DownConcerted Indiscipline 1  High PointHostage1   HighpointBarricade 1  Hostage  1 Holme HouseHostage 1  Nat Strike/ Pot IA1   HumberHostage1   IsisHostage   1LeicesterHostage  1 Incident at Height1  1LiverpoolHostage1   Lowdham GrangeBarricade   1MaidstoneBarricade  1 NationalNat Strike/ Pot IA  1 NorwichHostage   1NottinghamHostage21  1   OakwoodHostage1   PortlandConcerted Indiscipline  1 RochesterIncident at Height  1 Stoke HeathHostage  1 Swinfen HallHostage 1  Nat Strike/ Pot IA 1  The MountIncident at Height1   WandsworthHostage  1 WaylandConcerted Indiscipline   1Hostage1   WetherbyNat Strike/ Pot IA 1  2   Wormwood ScrubsNat Strike/ Pot IA1   Grand Total358213555 (Nat Strike/Pot IA refers to incidents of industrial action ) Tornado teams consist of prison officers in prisons who are trained in an advanced level of control and restraint techniques. NOMS has over 2000 such trained staff across the country. They have been deployed to establishments as detailed in Table 2. Table 2 – Operation Tornado responses by receiving prison in 2016PrisonJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAug  Doncaster  1  Haverigg1 1  High Down 1   Erlestoke 1   Portland  1  Grand Total  1 122   The National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) provides additional support staff or resources to prisons to help them deal with a variety of incidents. The overwhelming majority of call outs are for non-violent incidents, including where they attended as a precaution and when the situation was resolved locally. NTRG deployments are detailed in Table 3.   Table 3 – NTRG deployment by receiving prison and incident type in 2016 PrisonJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugAltcourseWAH - Internal 1 1AylesburyWAH - External   1WAH - Internal   1Bedford WAH - External1   WAH - Internal  1 1 1 Belmarsh WAH - Internal1 1 BirminghamWAH - Internal  2 1 11BrinsfordWAH - Internal1   BristolHostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - Internal  1 BrixtonHostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - External   1WAH - Internal1   Brook HouseWAH - Internal 1  Buckley Hall WAH - External   1111 WAH - Internal 111Bullingdon WAH - Internal  1 CampsfieldBarricade   1Cardiff WAH - Internal2   Channings Wood Barricade 1 1WAH - External  1 1   Chelmsford Barricade  1 WAH - Internal   1Coldingley WAH - External1   Cookham WoodConcerted Indiscipline  1 Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - Internal  3 DoncasterConcerted Indiscipline  1 Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - Internal  1 DovegateWAH - Internal1   Durham Barricade 1  Concerted Indiscipline   1WAH - External   1WAH - Internal 1 1 131Elmley Hostage - Prisoner1   ErlestokeConcerted Indiscipline 2  WAH - External1 11 1  Exeter Concerted Indiscipline1   WAH - Internal 1  13  Featherstone Barricade   1WAH - Internal 1  Feltham Barricade1   Garth Barricade 1  WAH - External   1WAH - Internal 2  Gartree Hostage - Prisoner  1  11 WAH - External   1Glen Parva Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - Internal   1Guys MarshBarricade 1  WAH - External 1114   WAH - Internal1 11Haverigg Concerted Indiscipline1 12Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - External 11 1 34WAH - Internal1 11Prisoner in Crisis1   Hewell Concerted Indiscipline1  1WAH - Internal 1   2 2High Down Concerted Indiscipline 1  WAH - External   1Highpoint Barricade 1 1Hostage - Prisoner  1 1 1 WAH - External   1  1 Hostage - Staff1   Hindley WAH - External   1WAH - Internal  2   1 Holme House WAH - Internal  12HumberBarricade 1  Hostage - Prisoner1  1WAH - External1   WAH - Internal  21211 Hostage - Staff1   Isis Hostage - Prisoner   1WAH - Internal2   1 11Isle of Wight WAH - External   1WAH - Internal  2 Lancaster Farms Hostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - Internal 1   11 Leeds Hostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - Internal131 21 1Leicester Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - External1  1WAH - Internal 1  1   LewesConcerted Indiscipline   1WAH - External   1WAH - Internal 1  2 1 Lincoln WAH - External 11 WAH - Internal 2   1 1Lindholme Barricade11  Concerted Indiscipline 2  WAH - External 1211  1WAH - Internal11 21311Littlehey WAH - Internal   11   Liverpool WAH - External   1WAH - Internal21321  3Long Lartin WAH - Internal   1Lowdham GrangeBarricade   1Concerted IndisciplineWAH - Internal224  213Maidstone Barricade  1 Manchester WAH - Internal   2 111Moorland Hostage - Prisoner1  1WAH - External1  1WAH - Internal  13  13Morton HalWAH - External 1  NorthumberlandWAH - Internal 1 1NorwichBarricade   1WAH - Internal  2 NottinghamBarricade 1  Hostage - Prisoner2  11  1WAH - Internal23211241OakwoodBarricade   1Hostage - Prisoner1   WAH - Internal1 231 21Onley WAH - Internal  1 ParcHostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - Internal 12   1 PentonvilleWAH - Internal 11   21Portland WAH - External 1  WAH - Internal  2  1  RanbyBarricade   2WAH - Internal22  RisleyHostage - Prisoner   1WAH - Internal 112Rochester WAH - External  1 1   WAH - Internal 1  Rye HillWAH - Internal1 1 11 2StockenBarricade  1 Concerted IndisciplineWAH - Internal1  1Stoke Heath Barricade1   Hostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - External  11WAH - Internal  2 1   Styal WAH - Internal  2 SwalesideWAH - Internal1   1   Swansea WAH - External   1WAH - Internal   2Swinfen Hall Hostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - External 11 WAH - InternalThamesideWAH - Internal  1 The Mount Barricade1   Hostage - Prisoner 1 1WAH - External 1  33  WAH - Internal 1  1   The VerneWAH - Internal1   WandsworthHostage - Prisoner  1 WAH - Internal   1111 Wayland Barricade   1Hostage - Prisoner1   WAH - External   2WAH - Internal21 2WealstunBarricade   1WAH - External 1  WAH - Internal  1 WerringtonWAH - Internal1  1WetherbyWAH - External  1 WAH - Internal1   Whatton WAH - Internal   1Whitemoor WAH - Internal  1  1  Winchester WAH - External 1  WAH - Internal222 WoodhillWAH - External  1 11  WAH - Internal2  1Wormwood ScrubsWAH - Internal31  Wymott Barricade  1 Hostage - Prisoner 1  WAH - Internal 11  3  Grand Total2842594467575466 (WAH = Working at Height )

Prisoners: Radicalism

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training her Department plans to provide for prison officers working in extremism segregation units; and how much such training will cost.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans her Department has for the provision of education programmes for prisoners held in extremism segregation units.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria her Department has used to determine which prisoners are to be placed in extremism segregation units; and if she will make a statement.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons she has chosen to pilot extremism segregation units.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate her Department has made of how much it will cost per head to retain prisoners in extremism segregation units; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government is committed to tackling all forms of extremism. Keeping the most dangerous extremists away from other prisoners is essential to the safe running of our prisons and fundamental to public protection. Planning is under way to create specialist units in the high security estate to allow greater separation and specialised management of the most dangerous and subversive individuals who pose the highest risk to other prisoners. We are reviewing extremism prevention training for all new prison staff as well as prison based training for existing staff. Courses will be combined into a single, improved programme before the end of this year. Prisons with special separation units will aim to provide education opportunities equivalent to those available to the general prison population. As the Secretary of State has said, details of the costs of these units are operationally sensitive.

Immigration: Appeals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to issue its response to the consultation on proposals for fees for the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber); and if she will make a statement.

Sir Oliver Heald: The response to this consultation was published on gov.uk on 15 September.

Reoffenders

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that re-offending rates are reduced.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We want to ensure that prisons are places of safety and rehabilitation. The key to this is achieving better outcomes for prisoners in employment, education and health, in order to reduce reoffending and protect the public. We will do this by giving governors increased responsibility on the front line and by putting sharper accountability in place, and will announce proposals for reform in autumn. We have already reformed the way adult offenders are managed in the community.Almost all adult offenders now receive targeted support on release, getting the help they need to turn away from crime and keep communities safer. For young offenders, Charlie Taylor has conducted a review of the youth justice system. This has been submitted to ministers and will be published in the autumn.

Courts: Greater London

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether officials of her Department have discussed with non-governmental bodies proposals for further court closures in Greater London in the next 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Oliver Heald: HM Courts & Tribunals Service keeps its operational estate under review to make sure that it aligns with the delivery of reformed court and tribunal services. On 15 September the Government published a consultation on the future of Camberwell Green and Hammersmith Magistrates’ Courts. Any further proposals will be subject to public consultation.

Prisoners: Females

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of women were categorised as on a basic regime in prison in each of the last three years.

Dr Phillip Lee: Prisoners’ status under the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme will move during the course of their imprisonment to reflect their pattern of behaviour and engagement with their rehabilitation, so that some may have been on the basic level on multiple occasions in each period, and sentence length and the duration of time spent on basic will vary for each prisoner and each instance. That is why we publish figures based on snapshots of a moment in time to give the sense of what proportion of prisoners are typically on each IEP level in any given day. Statistics for the gender split of the IEP levels for 2014/15 are published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479968/offender-equalities-report-tables.xlsx IEP statistics for 2015/16 without gender splits are published in the Annual NOMS Digest at the following link, and the gender splits of IEP statistics to March 2016 are due for publication on 24 November 2016:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2015-to-2016. There is no data for 2013/14.

Ministry of Defence

Yemen: Cluster Munitions

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2016 to Question 41376, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of evidence provided by Amnesty International on the alleged use of UK-produced BL-755 cluster munitions by the Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen.

Michael Fallon: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Saudi Arabia: Cluster Munitions

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether technical capacity for the launching of cluster munitions was provided with any UK-manufactured (a) aircraft and (b) unmanned aerial device exported to Saudi Arabia in the last 15 years.

Michael Fallon: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Aircraft Carriers

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what modifications are needed to the two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers in order for them to deploy Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey aircraft.

Harriett Baldwin: The Bell-Boeing MV-22 is not part of the resourced plan to deliver the UK Carrier Strike capability. However, in aspiring to high levels of interoperability between UK and US carriers, the Ministry of Defence will continue to explore the options and implications of operating US aircraft from the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, potentially including MV-22 on an opportunity basis.

Frigates

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the pre-concept phase activity for the General Purpose Frigate programme to conclude.

Harriett Baldwin: It is too soon to say when the pre-concept phase will conclude.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the then Minister for Defence Procurement of 24 May 2016, column 403, on Yemen: cluster munitions, that his Department is investigating allegations that Saudi Arabia used UK-supplied cluster munitions, if he will (a) provide an update on the progress and conclusions of those investigations and (b) confirm whether those investigations also explored the possibility that UK-supplied aircraft were used to drop those munitions.

Michael Fallon: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Kurds: Military Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to provide equipment and training support to the army of the Kurdistan regional government; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Since 2014 UK Service personnel have been deployed to the Kurdish region to train and support the Peshmerga in their fight against Daesh. In addition, the UK has gifted some 50 tonnes of non-lethal support, 40 heavy machine guns and over a million rounds of ammunition, with the most recent shipment delivered in July 2016.

Type 45 Destroyers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much repairs to Type 45 ships will cost; and whether the cost will be borne out of existing funds or a new allocation.

Harriett Baldwin: To reveal our current estimates of the cost of this upgrade would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Department. I can confirm, however, that funding for this improvement programme is to be contained within the budget allocated to Navy Command.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fisheries

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Written Statement of 14 July 2016, HCWS89, on the June Agriculture and Fisheries Council, in what cases exceptions should be made to reaching Maximum Sustainable Yield targets.

George Eustice: The Government supports setting EU Total Allowable Catches (TACs) at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) in 2017 wherever possible. In accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation 1380 / 2013 a delay in reaching MSY beyond 2017 would be allowed if a proposed TAC reduction would seriously jeopardise the social and economic sustainability of the fishing fleets involved. A decision may also be taken by the Council not to do so if it would merely increase the discarding of fish especially in a mixed fishery.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: EU Nationals

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many citizens of other EU countries work in his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Mr Marcus Jones: My department has 36 staff who self declare as being from other EU countries.My department's agencies have 14 staff from other EU countries, and the non-departmental public bodies have 12.

Planning Permission

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what contingency plan his Department has to address increases in the time taken to process planning applications by local authorities.

Gavin Barwell: Chapter 7 of the Technical consultation on the implementation of planning changes, published in February 2016, sets out our proposals to address delays in the processing of planning applications by local authorities. We are considering responses.

Refuges

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many women's refuges operated in the UK in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government does not hold data on the number of domestic violence refuges centrally. We expect local areas to assess the need for domestic abuse services and to make decisions on the provision of specialist safe accommodation, including refuges to meet our goal that no one is turned away from the support they need.

Refuges

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of women's refuge services; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that destroys the lives of victims and their families. That is why we are committed to ensuring that no victim is turned away from the support they need. We have committed long term funding of £40 million over the next four years to support to victims of domestic abuse.Refuges and other forms of specialist accommodation-based services play a vital role in providing this support. We are looking to local partnerships to ensure they meet the needs they identify in their local area.

Mobile Homes

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference are of the Park Homes Working Groups.

Gavin Barwell: The members of the park homes working group set up by the Government in 2015 were:1. Peter Aldous MP (Conservative) - Waveney2. Steve Brine MP (Conservative) -Winchester3. Natascha Engel MP (Labour) - North East Derbyshire4. Sonia McColl - Park Homes Justice Campaign5. Brian Doick - National Association of Park Home Residents6. Alan Savory - Independent Park Homes Advisory Service7. Alicia Dunne - The National Caravan Council8. Ros Pritchard - British Holiday and Home Parks Association9. Paul Holland - South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Council10.Lisa Osborn - North Somerset District Council11.William Tandoh – Department for Communities and Local Government12. Annette Brooke* - Former Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole13 Stephen Lloyd* - Former Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne14. Andrew Miller* - Former Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston*from February – May 2015The terms of reference of the group was to identify evidence of poor practice in the park homes sector and investigate how best to raise standards further and tackle abuse. The group concluded its work earlier this year and I will shortly consider its final recommendations.

Accommodation Agencies: Fees and Charges

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many fines have been issued to letting agents for failure to publicise their fees to landlords and prospective tenants since section 83 of the Consumer Rights Act came into force on 27 May 2015.

Gavin Barwell: The Department does not hold data on such convictions.

Solar Power: Non-domestic Rates

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to reduce the planned increases in business rates on solar rooftops from April 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. We will look closely at the impacts of the forthcoming revaluation and consult on how to make sure the right support is in place for ratepayers to adjust to any changes.

Scotland Office

Employment: Glasgow East

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department has taken to encourage investment and growth in the number of jobs in Glasgow East constituency.

David Mundell: The UK Government is investing £500 million in the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal, part of £1 billion of public investment that is being taken forward in partnership with the Scottish Government.The Deal will deliver 3 labour market projects including a £9 million employment scheme that will work with 4000 people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance and assist at least 600 in to sustained work. A £15 million integrated employment programme will work with 15,000 young people (aged 16-24) over the next three years, helping 5,000 in to sustained work.A new centre for Business Incubation and Development has been established in Glasgow with £4 million of City Deal funding and this is now providing support for growing small to medium sized enterprises.

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits: Appeals

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons there is a difference between the 30-day and the 42-day limit for HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix to reply to mandatory reconsideration requests.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21278, what differentiates the types of tax credit claim adjustment cases worked by Concentrix and by HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claims have been stopped as a result of checks by Concentrix since the beginning of its contract with his Department; and what the total saving was to the public purse resulting from the stopping of such claims.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how long, on average, Concentrix has taken to conduct mandatory reconsiderations for tax credits; and how long the (a) shortest and (b) longest such mandatory reconsiderations took in each year since that company has been contracted by his Department.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credits decision have been made to Concentrix in each month since January 2016.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for mandatory reconsideration of a tax credits decision are awaiting determination by Concentrix.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many independent tribunal cases have been brought to challenge mandatory reconsiderations of tax credits by Concentrix in each month since that company has been under contract with his Department.

Jane Ellison: Since the beginning of the contract between SYNNEX-Concentrix and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), in November 2014, to 11 September 2016, Concentrix has adjusted around 103,000 cases. HMRC does not hold information on how many are full adjustments or partial adjustments. The total savings in Annually Managed Expenditure have been £284.1 million since commencement of the contract in November 2014. As of 12th September 2016 there are currently 2197 applications for Mandatory Reconsiderations of a Concentrix tax credit decision awaiting determination. HMRC has received the following volume of Mandatory Reconsiderations relating to tax credit decisions made by Concentrix since January 2016: January 2016653February 2016571March 2016409April 20161047May 201677June 2016276July 2016426August 20161205Up to 12th September 2016464 The total number of Mandatory Reconsiderations received is about 1.6% of all Concentrix decisions made. The number of independent tribunal cases that have been received challenging Mandatory Reconsiderations of tax credit decisions by Concentrix in each month since the contract began have been: November 20140December 20140January 20150February 20150March 20153April 20151May 20155June 20157July 20153August 20152September 201522October 201550November 201540December 201538January 201671February 201698March 201646April 201635May 201657June 201622July 201632August 201623Up to 12th September 20167 The total number of tribunal appeals received is about 0.08% of all decisions Concentrix made in the same period. HMRC and Concentrix have the same target for processing Mandatory Reconsiderations. Both HMRC and Concentrix inform customers that they have 30 days to submit a Mandatory Reconsideration after receipt of their award notice. After receipt of the request for a Mandatory Reconsideration, HMRC and Concentrix aim to deal with them in 42 days. This time period includes any time that it takes to request and receive further information from the claimant. Concentrix currently reviews a number of tax credit case types on HMRC's behalf. Specifically Concentrix looks at cases where there is a potential undeclared partner, or potential inaccuracies with work and hours and/or child care charges. HMRC staff carry out a wider range of checks based on a different set of parameters and risk factors. Since the beginning of the contract, the average time taken by Concentrix to conduct Mandatory Reconsiderations for tax credits decisions is 23 days. The shortest time for dealing with Mandatory Reconsiderations was 6 days in 2014/15, 1 day in 2015/16 and 5 days in 2016/17. The longest time for dealing with Mandatory Reconsiderations was 261 days in 2014/15, 330 days in 2015/16, 122 days in 2016/17. As discussed during the responses on the floor of the House on 14 September regarding this issue, HMRC is no longer passing new cases to Concentrix. Concentrix is instead working to improve the service it provides to claimants and to resolve outstanding cases.

World Expo: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on Manchester's bid to host the World Expo in 2025.

Mr David Gauke: The government is committed to supporting the Greater Manchester events industry, including through VisitBritain, the Government’s Events Industry Board and our £1m Events Support Programme. The Chancellor holds regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on how we can best support growth in regions across the UK.

PAYE

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the need to simplify the PAYE system; and whether the Government plans to take any steps to simplify that system.

Jane Ellison: Between now and 2020, the Government’s vision is to build a transparent and accessible UK tax system that is fit for the digital age and reduces the burden on taxpayers. HM Revenue and Customs has embarked on a major transformation programme – Making Tax Digital – to do this. The successful introduction of PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) represented the biggest change to the UK payroll process since PAYE began in 1944. It provided an important step for the Government towards Making Tax Digital and the creation of digital accounts which will enable taxpayers to see and manage their tax affairs online in real time.

World Expo: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department (a) has had and (b) plans to have with representatives of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on Manchester's bid to host the World Expo in 2025.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury officials have regular discussions with representatives of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on how the government can best support this region. The government continues to support Manchester’s events industry through the Government’s Events Industry Board and our £1m Events Support Programme.

World Expo: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government's policy is on providing support for Manchester's bid to host the World Expo in 2025.

Mr David Gauke: The government is committed to supporting the Greater Manchester events industry, including through VisitBritain, the Government’s Events Industry Board and our £1m Events Support Programme. As ever, the government is open to considering the full range of options for supporting this region.

World Expo

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect on regional trade growth in the UK of hosting the 2025 World Expo.

Mr David Gauke: The government continues to promote regional trade growth across the UK, and has recently established the new Department for International Trade to promote the UK’s exports and trade and drive inward investment. As ever, we remain open to opportunities to promote growth across the UK and encourage further international trade and investment.

Revenue and Customs: Concentrix

Mr Graham Allen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Question 44728, how many (a) amended and (b) cancelled tax credit claims account for the savings in annually managed expenditure identified.

Jane Ellison: Since the contract with Concentrix began in November 2014, Concentrix have amended around 103,000 tax credit claims up to and including 11 September 2016. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Concentrix, acting on HMRC’s behalf, do not separate out the number of awards that are either partially amended or stopped.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what work his Department has done to assess the potential effect of the soft drinks industry levy on levels of obesity in children and teenagers.

Jane Ellison: The Chief Medical Officer has said that reformulation and resizing are the key wins to tackle obesity.The Soft Drinks Industry Levy has been specifically designed to encourage companies to reduce the amount of added sugar in their products and move consumers towards healthier choices, by promoting low-sugar brands and introducing smaller portion sizes for high-sugary drinks.The government will monitor industry progress in reformulation over the coming years.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Europol

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on future UK membership of Europol.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make it his policy to continue UK access to the Schengen Information System for law enforcement purposes once the UK exits the EU.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on future UK involvement in the European Arrest Warrant.

Mr Robin Walker: We are leaving the EU but co-operation on security with our European and global allies will be maintained. We will do what is necessary to keep our people safe - our aim will be to continue cooperation where it is in the national interest to protect the public. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Visits Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who has accompanied him on each of his foreign visits in his official ministerial capacity since the establishment of his Department.

Greg Hands: My rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has been accompanied by departmental officials on all foreign visits.

Exports

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value was of exports to non-EU destinations from (a) the Port of Felixstowe, (b) the Port of Southampton, (c) Gatwick Airport and (d) Heathrow Airport in 2015.

Greg Hands: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 15 September 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The value of the exports to non –EU destinations from the requested ports are provided in the table below [source: HMRC ports data].Exports of goods to the non-EU by portValue (£) Felixstowe10,291,216,996Southampton23,740,381,743London Gatwick307,063,268London Heathrow67,303,983,493[2015 calendar year]To note, data collection will be affected by the definitions used at the time of data collection. Please see the attached annex for more detail. 



Data collection definitions
(Word Document, 13.68 KB)

Greg Hands: The value of the exports to non –EU destinations from the requested ports are provided in the table below [source: HMRC ports data].Exports of goods to the non-EU by portValue (£) Felixstowe10,291,216,996Southampton23,740,381,743London Gatwick307,063,268London Heathrow67,303,983,493[2015 calendar year]To note, data collection will be affected by the definitions used at the time of data collection. Please see the attached annex for more detail. 



Data collection definitions
(Word Document, 13.68 KB)

Investment and Trade

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential risks to (a) trade and (b) investment of the UK leaving the EU for (i) Glasgow, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK.

Greg Hands: Recent figures on jobs and growth have shown we enter this period of adjustment from a position of economic strength. We have the tools we need to address the challenges ahead and mitigate risks, especially with the creation of the new Department for Exiting the European Union. We are confident we will get the best possible trade and investment deals for all parts of the United Kingdom as we leave the EU. We will also continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, giving them every opportunity to have their say as we form our negotiating strategy and we will look at any suggestions they put forward.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Youth Services: Closures

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of youth centres planned for closure in 2016-17.

Mr Rob Wilson: It is the responsibility of local authorities to decide how to allocate funding for youth services, according to local need. Individual local authorities would be best placed to advise on any youth centres that are planned for closure in their local area in 2016-17.

Youth Services

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making the provision of youth services a statutory duty for councils.

Mr Rob Wilson: Government does place an existing statutory duty on local authorities through the Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. However, in fulfilling this responsibility government believes that local authorities should be empowered to decide how best to secure services that meet the needs of young people within the budget that is available to them. Government is committed to ensuring all young people can reach their full potential and has recently announced an £80 million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.

Youth Services

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies and those of local authorities of the findings of the Unison report, A Future at Risk, published in August 2016, on the number of places in youth services that have been lost since 2010; and whether she plans to increase the number of such places.

Mr Rob Wilson: It is the responsibility of local authorities to decide how to allocate funding for youth services, according to local need. There is an existing statutory duty on local authorities through Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. Individual local authorities would be best placed to advise on whether there are plans to increase the number of places in youth services in their local area. Government is committed to ensuring all young people have the best possible start in life. To demonstrate this, it has recently announced an £80million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.

Tourism: Battles

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote battlefield tourism in (a) England and (b) Northam in Torridge and West Devon constituency.

Tracey Crouch: There are 46 ​Registered Battlefields in England, 22% of ​these are located in the South West. Through the recently published Tourism Action Plan and Discover England Fund this Government is encouraging visitors, both domestic and international, to venture beyond London, so that the benefits of growth can be felt across the whole of the UK.

Department of Health

Health Visitors

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the availability of health visiting services on patients receiving those services; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government is committed to achieving good health outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for 0-5 year olds in their areas, including health visiting. Public Health England monitors a range of outcomes for child health. This includes information provided by local authorities for health visiting services high impact actions such as reducing smoking in pregnancy and managing a healthy weight in 4-5 year olds. The majority of these show steady state of improvement[1]. The Health Visitor Programme, which concluded in 2015, introduced a new service model for the profession to help develop improved access, user experience and outcomes, as well as reducing health inequalities. The Health Visitor programme also saw the workforce increase considerably enabling more families to be reached. Professional groups indicate the service model has provided increased awareness of the service by users and a better structured delivery.  [1] Chimat Early Years Profileshttp://atlas.chimat.org.uk/IAS/dataviews/report/fullpage?viewId=433&reportId=482&geoId=17&geoReportId=4494&select=EN

Community Nurses

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to maintain or increase the number of district nurses; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: Health Education England (HEE) operate an annual comprehensive planning process to ensure their investments meet the future needs of the population including the National Health Service requirement for district nurses. This process determines the education commissioning volumes for the following financial year and is published in the Workforce Plan for England. Since 2013/14 HEE has increased district nursing education and training commissions by over 25%. In 2016/17 they have commissioned 505 district nurse training places in their Workforce Plan for England maintaining the levels of commissions from 2015/16. Workforce commissions for 2017/18 will be published in December 2016.

Nurses: Training

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department will take to monitor the number of UCAS applications for nursing courses in the next two years; and what contingency planning his Department has undertaken to address any reduction in the number of such applications in that period.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that changes to the funding of nursing education will (a) increase the number and (b) improve the quality of clinical placements for students.

Mr Philip Dunne: The changes to healthcare education funding from August 2017 means that we can move away from centrally imposed controls on numbers of nurses being trained and financial limitations, enabling universities to increase nurse training places by the end of the parliament, 2020. As now, ensuring that all students have access to high quality placements and receive an outstanding placement experience is a key priority. Having a stable placement commissioning system is important for workforce supply and for Higher Education Institutes; therefore Health Education England (HEE) will retain responsibility for commissioning the minimum number of placements for 2017/18. Universities will be free to create additional places on top of these in partnership with their local trusts and will have their HEE-funded placements maintained at existing levels. The Government is committed to monitoring data regarding, for example, application rates, diversity statistics and workforce supply. The first part of the government response to the consultation included a revised Economic Impact Assessment, page 16 sets out the Monitoring and Evaluation plan, the link is: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changing-how-healthcare-education-is-funded

Health: Children

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in the availability of health visiting and school nursing services on health outcomes for children and young people; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government is committed to achieving good health outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for 0-19 year olds in their areas, including health visiting and school nursing. Public Health England monitors a range of health outcomes for children, provided by Local authorities, including the health visiting services’ high impact actions, such as reducing smoking in pregnancy and managing a healthy weight in 4-5 year olds. The majority of these show a steady state of improvement[1]. Whilst no similar collection of data is made for school nursing services, and therefore no assessment has been made, school nurses are key providers of both the National Child Measurement Programme and childhood immunisations, both of which show significant uptake rates[2]. Both the Health Visitor Programme and School Nurse Programme, which concluded in 2015, introduced new service models for both professions to help develop improved access, user experience and outcomes, as well as reducing health inequalities. The Health Visitor programme also saw the workforce increase considerably enabling more families to be reached. Both professional groups indicate the service models have provided increased awareness of the service by users and a better structured delivery. [1] Chimat Early Years Profileshttp://atlas.chimat.org.uk/IAS/dataviews/report/fullpage?viewId=433&reportId=482&geoId=17&geoReportId=4494&select=EN[2] National Child Measurement Programme https://www.noo.org.uk/NCMP

Junior Doctors and Teachers: Pensions

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average employer pension contribution is for a (a) junior doctor and (b) teacher; and what the average private sector employer contribution is under the workforce pension.

Mr Philip Dunne: The table below shows average employer contribution in terms of rates and cash amounts. When comparing the contribution rates payable for the public service schemes the different benefit structures of each scheme should be taken into account.  Average pensionable pay (£)Average employer contribution rate (%)1Average employer contribution per member (£)Junior doctors237,00014.35,300Teachers338,40016.46,300Civil servants428,10020.95,900Firefighters431,50017.65,500Police officers437,60022.18,300Private sector (DB)26,000515.864,110Private sector (CARE)12.73,300Private sector (DC)2.97750 1 The employer contribution rates quoted for the public sector schemes are taken from the latest published 2012 valuation reports National Health Service Pension Scheme, Teachers' Pension Scheme, Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, Firefighters’ Pension Schemes and Police Pension Schemes and payable by employers from 1 April 2015 to 1 April 2019. 2 The average pensionable pay figure here is for a junior doctor on the consultant training path, assuming an average total pay amount of £53,000 per annum of which £37,000 per annum is basic and thus pensionable. These figures are based on NHS Digital data as at June 2015. 3 The average pensionable pay figure for teachers is taken from the 2012 Teachers’ Pension Scheme valuation report, by averaging the pensionable pay amounts for actives with Normal Pension Age (NPA) 60 and NPA 65. 4 The average pensionable pay figures for civil servants, firefighters and police officers are taken from the 2012 valuation report. 5 The average pensionable pay figure for the private sector is taken from table 6 of the Office of National Statistics – Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2015. The survey refers to a single pay figure for members across all schemes, however in practice we would expect members of Defined Benefit (DB) schemes to be higher earners. It is also not clear how much of this pay figure is pensionable. Note the public and private sectors have workforces which are composed quite differently making comparison difficult. 6 The contribution rates for the private sector are taken from the Occupational Pension Schemes Survey: 2014. The average DB contribution rate also takes account of the contributions paid into Career Average Revalued Earning (CARE) schemes. 7 The average Defined Contribution (DC), contribution rate of 2.9% has fallen since previous analysis was performed, following the introduction of auto enrolment legislation. This may be due to a rise in the number of new members paying the minimum rates which will pull the average down. The minimum contribution rates required under auto enrolment will rise from 1% to 2% in April 2018 and 3% in April 2019. It should be noted that the 2.9% represents the average contribution rate actually paid by employers rather than the maximum rate employers may offer to pay (due to matching contribution structures).

Junior Doctors: Industrial Disputes

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the potential financial loss incurred by a junior doctor would be for each week of strike action.

Mr Philip Dunne: The loss in earnings faced by individual striking doctors depends on their normal level of earnings and the extent to which their working patterns for the week falls within the periods of strike action. However, based on average earnings, a Junior Doctor taking part in five full days of strike action can be estimated to lose around £675 in gross earnings.

Doctors: Pensions

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average lifetime allowance on retirement is for existing consultants and GPs; and what the average private sector pension pot is on retirement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Association of Pension Funds Annual Survey 2013[1] states that the average pension paid to scheme members of defined benefit schemes is around £8,100 a year. A pension of this amount at retirement is likely to be valued at between £160,000 and £200,000 for lifetime allowance purposes. The average value of pension for lifetime allowance purposes is £920,000 for consultants and £1,012,000 for general medical practitioners. The data underlying the average pension figures, that were supplied by the Government Actuary’s Department above, are based on NHS Pension Scheme membership data as at 31 March 2015 and covers both 1995 and 2008 section members. The average pension figures are taken from the active member data and based on average accrued pension for those aged 59 and over in 1995 scheme and 64 and over in 2008 scheme. Note that these are mostly 1995 section members so they will also qualify for a lump sum of three times their pension. We are unable to identify consultants directly from the data, so the above figures are based on data for all officers earning over £76,001 (the lowest pay threshold for a consultant in 2016/17 on a 2003 contract). The results will therefore include some non-consultants, and the figure could potentially be skewed by inclusion of other higher earners, for example specialist nurses who have additional non-basic pensionable pay. There could be potential skewing caused by recent trends of high earners opting out/retiring from the scheme (they would therefore not be in the underlying data used to derive the above pension amounts). [1] http://www.plsa.co.uk/PressCentre/news/0494-National-Association-of-Pension-Funds-Annual-Survey-2013-key-findings.aspx

Junior Doctors: Industrial Disputes

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of five days' strike action by junior doctors each month until the end of 2016 on the training of junior doctors.

Mr Philip Dunne: Health Education England’s (HEE) primary concern is patient safety. An initial census of HEE activity during the first strike period shows that significant numbers of education and training events involving senior clinicians may need to be re-arranged across England; Annual Reviews of Competence Progression, recruitment, teaching/ education events, Training Committees/Boards. This will affect trainees and senior clinicians as events will all need to be rearranged. Recruitment may need to be re-arranged in the following specialties; Anaesthesia, Combined Infection Training, Clinical Genetics, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Medicine, General Practice, Plastic Surgery, Rheumatology, Gynaecological Oncology (Sub specialty). Due to time elapsed the national recruitment timetable may need to be amended, which would impact all specialties. On an individual basis, General Medical Council guidance states that if a trainee misses more than two weeks (when a trainee would normally be at work), over and above annual leave, the satisfactory training progression of a trainee should be reviewed at their next Annual Review of Competence Progression. For trainees on the Foundation Programme, the trigger point is 20 days.

Health Professions: Training

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse is of training a (a) consultant, (b) junior doctor, (c) GP and (d) nurse.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the taxpayer of training someone to become a consultant, junior doctor, general practitioner (GP) and nurse. The Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2014’, published in 2015, that the average cost in 2014/15 of training to become a consultant is £508,819, the cost to be a junior doctor is £380,850, the cost to be a GP is £385,523, and the training cost to be a nurse is £80,807. These figures reflect the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses/lost production and clinical placements and the post-graduate costs of tuition and replacement costs not the average cost to the taxpayer.

Junior Doctors

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times he has met the Interim Chair of the Junior Doctors Committee since 7 July 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear that he wishes to work with the British Medical Association to address Junior Doctors concerns. He has met with Dr Ellen McCourt, the interim Chair of the Junior Doctors’ Committee, three times between her appointment and 31 August. The meetings were on 7 and 28 July and 30 August 2016.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many negotiation meetings his Department and NHS Employers have had with the BMA on the junior doctors' contract since 2013.

Mr Philip Dunne: There have been 51 formal negotiation meetings. There were 41 up to February 2016, when agreement could not be reached; and 10 ACAS negotiation meetings in May 2016, culminating in the agreement with the British Medical Association (BMA).The parties also met eight times in early 2013 to agree Heads of Terms for the negotiations that began in 2013, and had five days of ACAS-facilitated discussions in November 2015 to agree a memorandum of understanding for the negotiations that began in December 2015 and ended without agreement. There were also a number of discussions following the May agreement to clarify some of the detail before the contract was published and put to BMA members for a vote.

Junior Doctors: Pensions

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the expected pension benefits at normal pension age are for a junior doctor commencing training in August 2016 if they become a (a) consultant and (b) GP.

Mr Philip Dunne: The expected pension benefit for a junior doctor commencing training in August 2016 (on the new contract terms) will be £67,200 per annum if they become a consultant and £68,800 per annum if they become a general practitioner.

Maternity Pay

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what maternity pay is received by (a) junior doctors, (b) teachers, (c) police officers and (d) firefighters.

Mr Philip Dunne: Some employers provide occupational maternity pay (OMP), with payments offset against any statutory maternity pay (SMP) or maternity allowance payable during the relevant periods. For junior doctors, SMP is 90% of average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first six weeks and £139.58 or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks. OMP is eight weeks at full pay and 18 weeks at half pay. Eligibility requirements include 12 months continuous service. The “Conditions of Service for Schoolteachers in England and Wales” provide for maternity pay that includes: four weeks at full pay; two weeks at 90% pay; and 12 weeks at half pay without deductions. Eligibility requirements include one year’s continuous employment. For police officers, OMP is 18 weeks at full pay; or officers can elect for 13 weeks at full pay and 10 weeks at half pay. Eligibility requirements include 63 weeks continuous service. For firefighters, maternity pay includes: six weeks at 90% pay and 12 weeks at half pay. Eligibility requirements include a year’s continuous service.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 1.10 of his Department's paper, Inflected blood: Government Response to Consultation on Reform of Financial and Other Support, published in July 2016, whether survey respondents were asked whether they were infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 1.10 of his Department's paper, Infected blood: Government Response to Consultation on Reform of Financial and Other Support, published in July 2016, whether survey respondents infected with hepatitis C were additionally asked whether they had stage 1 or stage 2 hepatitis C.

Nicola Blackwood: Responses to the consultation were provided on a voluntary basis and none of the questions asked were compulsory. Consultation respondents were asked in separate questions to indicate if they had hepatitis C and/or HIV, from infected National Health Service supplied blood/blood products. Whilst respondents were not asked specifically whether they had stage 1 or stage 2 hepatitis C, many voluntarily offered this information.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the special appeals process for people infected with Stage 1 Hepatitis C as a result of receiving contaminated blood will be managed by (a) his Department or (b) the new single trust which will be established from 2017-18.

Nicola Blackwood: In 2017/18, we will introduce a special appeals mechanism for people currently at stage 1 of their hepatitis C infection, to apply for a higher level of payment, equivalent to the stage 2 annual payments of £15,500, details of which are still being considered. We envisage that the new single scheme administrator will administer and manage such a process.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total budget in each year of the Spending Review Period will be for the new support package for people affected by contaminated blood.

Nicola Blackwood: The annual budget for the new support scheme will range between £46.2 million and £46.6 million for each year of the Spending Review period.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 4.4 of his Department's document, Infected blood: Government Response to Consultation on Reform of Financial and Other Support, published in July 2016, whether payments for people with stage 1 hepatitis C who obtain higher payments equivalent to stage 2 through the Special Appeals Mechanism will be uprated in line with the consumer prices index.

Nicola Blackwood: All annual payments to beneficiaries of the support schemes will continue to be linked to the Consumer Price Index under the new arrangements from 2017/18.

Huntington's Disease

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department makes available to families who are supporting relatives with Huntington's disease.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in November 2013. The Strategy is signed up to by the four home countries of the United Kingdom. The Strategy contains 51 high level commitments which comprise a long term strategic vision for improving the lives of all those with rare diseases. The focus throughout is patients and their families. The UK Strategy includes commitments to empower those affected by rare diseases including making sure that patients and their families have a say in decisions about treatment and in the planning, evaluation and monitoring of services. The Strategy also recognises the important role played by patient organisations such as the Huntington’s Disease Association in the provision of support, information and advice and helping patients and their families feel less isolated.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the new single trust to be set up in 2017-18 to support people affected by contaminated blood will redirect all postage, telephone calls and website visits to the addresses, telephone numbers and web addresses of the previous five trusts.

Nicola Blackwood: The new single scheme administrator will be responsible for developing transitional plans with the current schemes to address this.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether enhanced payments for people infected with Stage 1 Hepatitis C as a result of receiving contaminated blood will be backdated to April 2016 if their appeal through the special appeals mechanism after 2017-18 is successful.

Nicola Blackwood: In 2017/18, we will introduce a special appeals mechanism for people currently at stage 1 of their hepatitis C infection, to apply for a higher level of payment, equivalent to the stage 2 annual payments of £15,500. Details of the appeals mechanism are still being developed. Any individual successful in their appeal when operational, will not have these backdated to April 2016, but will be backdated from the point they submitted their application.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's publication, Infected blood: Government Response to Consultation on Reform of Financial and Other Support, published in July 2016, whether it is his policy that people with hepatitis C will continue to receive payments even if they clear the condition following successful treatment.

Nicola Blackwood: It is the Department’s policy that the registrants of existing payment support schemes, who were infected with hepatitis C through National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products and have subsequently cleared the virus through treatment, should receive continuing support in recognition of what has happened to them.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans that the new, single trust for people affected by contaminated blood will be a registered charity; whether he plans that that trust will have trustees representing (a) his Department, (b) the Haemophilia Society and (c) the infected community; and whether he plans that the registered beneficiaries of that trust will be contacted from the (i) wider beneficiary community registered with the MFET and Skipton Fund or (ii) narrower list of people registered with the Caxton Foundation, Eileen Trust or MacFarlane Trust.

Nicola Blackwood: There will be a new scheme administrator combining the discretionary and annual payment functions of the existing five schemes into a single scheme going forward.The new scheme administrator will become operational in the financial year 2017/18 and the current bodies will operate until the new scheme is operational. The Department has initiated the pre-market engagement phase of the procurement process for identifying a new scheme administrator. At this stage, it is too early to comment on who will be successful in the procurement process and what their internal governance arrangements will be.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who his Department plans to consult before finalising details of the reformed discretionary support scheme for people affected by the contaminated blood scandal.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department already consulted on our proposals and have listened carefully to the consultation responses to frame our plans for reform of the discretionary support scheme.

Huntington's Disease: Health Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of help and support available to people with Huntington's disease.

Nicola Blackwood: Adult specialised neuroscience services, including those for people with complex neurological issues, some of which will relate to Huntington’s disease, are commissioned by NHS England’s specialised commissioning teams. However, a large part of the care that Huntington’s patients require will be accessed through local hospital and general practitioner (GP) services. These services are funded by local clinical commissioning groups and as such are not specialised services. Patients with Huntington’s disease have access to a range of services including their GP, associated health professionals neurology services, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and local mental health services. Additional resources, information and advice are available through patient organisations such as the Huntington’s Disease Association.

Huntington's Disease: Medical Treatments

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the development of treatments for Huntington's disease.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), has established the Rare Diseases Translational Research Collaboration (TRC) with an initial investment of £20 million over four years. The Rare Disease TRC provides world-class National Health Service research infrastructure to support fundamental discoveries and translational research on rare diseases; increasing research collaboration to lead to improved diagnosis, treatment and care, and to support deep phenotyping of people with rare diseases. The NIHR funds research infrastructure to translate developments in pre-clinical research in neurological conditions, including Huntington’s disease, into benefits for patients including new treatments. This infrastructure includes the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date HPV vaccinations were made available to men who have sex with men; and how many such men have received that vaccination since that date.

Nicola Blackwood: A pilot programme offering human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to men who have sex with men up to the age of 45 who attend participating HIV and genitourinary medicine Mclinics started on 6 June 2016. Information on the number of HPV vaccinations administered during the pilot is being collected and, as such, is not yet available. It is anticipated that initial validated data covering the period up to the end of September will be available in late November.

Multiple Births

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NICE has assessed the potential merits of producing guidance for managing delivery and birth in twin pregnancies; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that it recognises that there is a gap in its existing guidelines with regards to intrapartum care for multiple pregnancies and is considering the most appropriate approach as part of a wider review of all of its pregnancy guidelines.

Sickle Cell Diseases: Research

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of research into sickle cell disease in meeting the needs of people with that disease.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department has made no specific assessment of this. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is investing £15.1 million in four Blood and Transplant Research Units (BTRUs) that support the future needs of donors, patients and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). Each BTRU is a partnership between a university and NHSBT. One BTRU is based at the University of Bristol and is carrying out research to aid the development of new blood products for treatment of patients with rare blood types and those needing regular transfusions including patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The NIHR has also recently funded a £0.3 million study on improvement of pain and quality of life in patients with SCD with nocturnal oxygen therapy or auto-adjusting continuous positive airways pressure. A current £0.5 million NIHR study is examining young adult patients’ experiences of transitions from paediatric to adult services for SCD, and the NIHR is currently seeking to commission research on whether haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in adults with severe SCD is cost effective and improves quality of life. The Department’s NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including SCD. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have sickle cell disease in the UK; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision to improve the quality of life and life expectancy of people with that disease.

Nicola Blackwood: The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia screening programme is a linked antenatal and newborn screening programme which is offered to all pregnant women and their babies. It is also offered to fathers to be, where antenatal screening shows that the mother is a genetic carrier.Table 1 shows the number of screen positive babies detected in England since the establishment of Public Health England (PHE) in 2013.Table 1. Sickle cell disease (SCD) screen positive babies: EnglandYearScreen Positive BabiesTotal ScreenedRate per 10001 in x2013/14319668,1170.482,0942014/15278661,4320.422,379Total for whole period3,0036,056,6630.502,017Data source: PHE ScreeningAlthough NHS England does not routinely collect the information requested on the provision to improve quality of life and life expectancy of people with the disease, it is is working to ensure excellent services for people identified with Sickle Cell disease.NHS England has included treatment services for haemoglobinopathies within the prescribed specialised services commissioned centrally by NHS England and set up a Clinical Reference Group of sickle cell and thalassaemia experts and patient representatives specifically to advise NHS England on commissioning services for haemoglobinopathies.NHS England is also developing a commissioning policy for the management of iron overload in sickle cell and thalassaemia patients. It is also about to under-take a national review of haemoglobinopathy services, commencing in 2016-17.

Department of Health: Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department's (a) £10 million payment to the Macfarlane Trust in 1987 and (b) £500,000 payment to the Eileen Trust in 1993 was allocated to his Department's capital budget or revenue budget.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department does not hold the information requested. The Department only holds data for the last seven financial years, in accordance with departmental policy for retention of financial data, and the Finance Act 1998 - Schedule 18 Part III, Duty to keep and preserve records. The government spending control regime has changed many times since the period referred to in the question, however generally payments to charities such as these would score as “grants”. The treatment of a grant as “revenue” or “capital” is explained on page 31 of HM Treasury’s Consolidated Budgeting Guidance 2016-17, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/503365/Consolidated_budgeting_guidance_2016-17.pdf

Diabetes: Health Services

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on reducing required variations in the care provided to people with diabetes.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to make continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump technology available to diabetics on the NHS.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to structured education for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Nicola Blackwood: This Government is working hard to improve outcomes and quality of life for those already living with diabetes and those who will develop it in the coming years. One of our key goals in the mandate to the National Health Service is a measurable reduction in variation in the management and care of people with the condition within the lifetime of this Parliament. Funding has been secured through the spending review to help achieve this and NHS England is developing a programme to ensure that those clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which need extra investment in this area, accompanied by sound plans for delivery, receive it. In addition, the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework will play a key role in delivering this as it contains two recognised evidence based measures of whether patients with diabetes are being supported to successfully manage their condition (achievement of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets and participation in structured education programmes). Using data from the NHS Atlas of Variation, NHS Right Care is also working with CCGs and other local partners to make improvements in diabetes care and reduce variation by providing hands on practical support. Since 2009/10, there has been an almost 70% increase in the proportion of people newly diagnosed with diabetes recorded as being referred to structured education courses, designed to help them manage their condition in the long term. However, whilst we know that the data on take up needs improving, there is still much further to go in enabling people with diabetes to access these programmes. The Department, NHS England and Diabetes UK are working on ways to improve the take up of structured education including exploring how more diversity of provision might be delivered through digital and web based approaches. The Department recently held a seminar with key stakeholders to identify actions that would facilitate improved access. CCGs are primarily responsible for commissioning diabetes services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, are based on the available evidence, taking into account national guidelines. This should include consideration of access to continuous glucose monitoring for people with Type 1 diabetes who might benefit from it.

Obesity: Children

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government's recently-published childhood obesity action plan, how he plans to work with the public health community to ensure that approaches to reduce child obesity are evidence-based.

Nicola Blackwood: The policies in the plan are informed by the latest research and evidence, including from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report Carbohydrates and Health, Public Health England’s evidence package Sugar reduction: the evidence for action, other government departments, debates in this House and various reports from key stakeholders including the Health Select Committee. In delivering the plan, we will continue to work with the public health community and other partners to ensure implementation is aligned to our proposals. Copies of Carbohydrates and Health and Sugar reduction: the evidence for action are attached and are available at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445503/SACN_Carbohydrates_and_Health.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf



SACN Carbohydrates and Health
(PDF Document, 2.39 MB)




PHE Sugar reduction The evidence for action
(PDF Document, 1.16 MB)

Kidneys: Transplant Surgery

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of kidney transplants in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland in each year since 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is as follows: Transplants performed involving kidneys, 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2016: by nation of transplant unitNation/donor type2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/16England  Deceased donor1,4941,6491,8251,7961,914 Living Donor866907941886863 Total2,3602,5562,7662,6822,777Northern Ireland  Deceased donor2726404450 Living donor5049585466 Total77759898116Wales  Deceased donor10894856069 Living donor3843373629 Total1461371229698Source: NHS Blood and TransplantTransplants performed involving kidneys, 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2016: by nation of patient residencyNation/donor type2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/16England  Deceased donor1,4631,6231,7961,7741,881 Living Donor830877895842822 Total2,2932,5002,6912,6162,703Northern Ireland  Deceased donor3033424856 Living donor5654615563 Total8687103103119Wales  Deceased donor1331121087494 Living donor5052494446 Total183164157118140Source: NHS Blood and Transplant A seven year United Kingdom-wide organ donation and transplantation strategy was jointly published by the four UK health ministers and NHS Blood and Transplant in July 2013. The strategy aims to increase donation and transplantation rates; to make the UK system comparable with the best of the world. 2015/16 saw the highest ever deceased donor rate in the UK with 1,364 deceased donors resulting in 3,529 transplants. We continue to support work to further increase donation and transplantation rates, particularly promoting collaborative working amongst organisations and raising awareness of donation in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic population.

Immigrants: Detainees

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government takes to establish whether a woman is pregnant while in detention at an immigration removal centre.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England advise that disclosure of pregnancy of women in held in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in England is at the behest of the individual concerned. The health assessment carried out at reception screening would ask if pregnancy was a possibility and a subsequent pregnancy test would confirm this, provided that consent was given. The Home Office is currently consulting on mandatory new guidelines for its operational staff, “Care and Management of Pregnant women in Detention”. This will apply to staff operating in IRCs and other parts of the detention estate in England and is expected to be published this year.

Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to discourage pregnant mothers from consuming alcohol during pregnancy.

Nicola Blackwood: We want women to make decisions about their health based on the best possible information. The new United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines provide clear advice for women across the UK that for those who are pregnant, or could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all. This is to keep any risk to the baby to a minimum. Public Health England is working with relevant professional organisations in England to help midwives and health visitors educate and inform women about avoiding alcohol while pregnant.

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answers of 7 July 2016 to Questions 41448 and 41439, what his Department's priorities are for the 7th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to be held in November 2016.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who will represent his Department at the World Health Organisaiton Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in India in November 2016.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department is still giving consideration to the United Kingdom's priorities for the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The composition of the UK’s delegation is also still under consideration.